


Flowers Blooming Stone

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Curses, Fantasy, Fluff, Gargoyles, Gorgons (Hellenistic Religion & Lore), M/M, Royalty, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Witch Curses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-15 13:58:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18074714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: A gorgon is doomed to a life of loneliness, a life where there is no living creature that could ever see them as they are, could ever meet their eyes...Well, no creature except forone, that is





	Flowers Blooming Stone

**Author's Note:**

  * For [venom_for_free](https://archiveofourown.org/users/venom_for_free/gifts).



> My final fic for Venom's gorgon picture, the gargoyle idea was entirely her's <3 This one is admittedly too fluffy but I couldn't help myself, I was listening to Post Malone's "Sunflower" wile writing it so I wanted to put something about flowers in the title and it turned into this

Once upon a time

There was a beautifull, kind, young prince, named Atem

Atem was beloved by all his people, and he, in turn, loved them back

There was, however, an issue at hand

You see, for as beloved as Atem surely was, his father, certainly, was not

Atleast, not by all

For when Atem was a child, his father brokered a deal with a demon

Though the details of the deal have long been lost to history, it's said that he wished for peace in his kingdom, but in exchange, unknowingly sacrificed the lives of everyone in a nearby village

Everyone, but for one child

That child grew to be a powerfull witch, who sought vengeance on the man who murdered his family and village

When the witch came to claim vengeance on the king, however, he was enraged to find that the king had already passed away

Now, the man on the throne was the king's son, the recently coronated prince-turned-king, Atem

Atem tried to reason with the witch, but to no avail, he demanded a pound of flesh

And so, the prince-turned-recent-king offered himself as a sacrifice, to keep the people of his kingdom safe

The witch found that killing Atem would bring him little satisfaction, after all, it would end so very quickly

But if he were to _curse_ the young leader....

Now that may be a different story

So the witch conjured up the nastiest, most horrible curse he could imagine, and turned Atem into a gorgon

His hair became a nest of snakes, his eyes faded from red to white, and his gaze became unbearable to look at, for should he ever stare at another living thing, it would immediately turn to stone

The prince fled to the mountains, where he could do no harm, and tried to make peace with being alone

But he soon found out that it was not merely people he was giving up- he was giving up every manner of living

He could no rise in the mornings without the risk of staring into the eyes of a bird, nor gaze upon the moon without the reflection of his eyes bouncing off of the stream nearby and paralyzing an owl

He couldn't even pick flowers, for the petals withered and turned to stone under his eyes

How, he wasn't sure, as flowers had no eyes, but the curse _did_ say that the misfortune would befall any living thing he set his gaze to, not that they had to look him in the eyes in return, he had merely assumed that...

And so, Atem became more and more secluded, more and more lonely, more and more listless

By the time a month had passed, he was merely a shell of the person he once was

He was constantly wavering between agony and numbness, and could never seem to settle on either option entirely

It was during one of those nights of unsettling that he finally gave in to the pain coursing through him, and began to cry

Atem would not change his decision for anything or anyone, if it meant keeping his people safe, then he would suffer any fate necessary

But he still ached

He was still hurting

And he still wished that he had someone, _anyone_ , to talk to

It was as he made this wish that something amazing- a true miracle- happened

Someone stepped into his cave

"Go away, please!" he shouted, carefully keeping his eyes shut, refusing to look at whoever had come into the cave, and sheltering his eyes with his hands

"I've been cursed, if I see you, you'll be turned to stone!"

"That isn't really a problem for me,"

It was a man's voice...

Deep and rich, but with a smooth sort of rasp to it as well

_It was **beautifull**_

"Please... please, I don't want to hurt anyone!"

"You won't hurt me," the voice replied confidently

Atem didn't know how that was possible

He had been cursed to harm all living things, unless.... this creature wasn't technically living....

Was he speaking to a vampire? Were vampires immune somehow? Maybe because they weren't actually dead?

With great, great hesitation, he slowly looked over his shoulder, cracking an eye open, and slowly looking up... up.... up.... until he finally met the eyes of the taller- much, much taller- man

He looked human, and yet.... Atem was looking right at him, and he wasn't turning to stone

In fact, he was walking closer, still moving, definitely not paralyzed

In surprise and releif, he uncovered and opened his other eye, hurriedly spinning around to face the stranger fully

And surely enough, he _looked_ as gorgeous as he sounded

He was probably a full foot taller than Atem- atleast- and had short brown hair, pale skin, and the deepest blue eyes Atem had ever seen

"How.... how are you not affected?" he breathed in curiosity

"I'm a gargoyle, I'm already made of stone, you can't turn me into something that I already am,"

Oh... well, he supposed that explained alot

"You don't look like you're made of stone," he commented innocently, reaching out carefully to poke and pinch the stranger's arm

It was so soft....

"And you don't feel like stone,"

Leaning up, Atem pressed himself a little bit closer, closing his eyes for concentration and listening

Surely enough, he could hear the stranger breathing... and his heart beating...

"You're alive, so ... you don't sound like you're made of stone either,"

How can stone breathe, after all?

"I am alive," he confirmed with a small smirk, inhaling deeply through his nose as a large, leathery pair of bat-like wings sprouted from his back

_Amazing_.....

"And I'm not made of stone in this very instance, but I can become stone at will, I usually allow myself to become stone during the day, so I can watch over the city, but as soon as something goes wrong or night falls, I become ... _this_ again, a more human version of myself, either way, I'm still made of stone, so turning me to stone just ... doesn't exactly work,"

"Point taken," Atem confirmed slowly

"But... you don't have the option of turning this on and off, I'm guessing?" the gargoyle commented

The downcast look on the gorgon's face was the only answer he needed

"You must be pretty alone then,"

"I am, yes," Atem confirmed quietly, not knowing what else to say

He wasn't the type to seek pity, not from others nor from himself, yet at the same time, he couldn't exactly find any silver linings here, or claim that he was getting used to it

He wasn't

"Well, as it so happens, gargoyles aren't exactly social creatures,"

Slowly, Atem raised an eyebrow, waiting on him to continue

"I'm alone too,"

_Oh..._

"Would you... like to stay?" Atem asked quietly, taking a hesitant step forward

The gargoyle's lips twitched upwards, just slightly, not enough for most people to notice

But then, Atem wasn't most people

"Staying sounds... nice,"

"One condition then," Atem proposed, arms crossed over his chest, a sway in his hips as he walked closer, his expression warm and light and full of joy

"And what would that be?"

"I need a name, I can't just call you 'Gargoyle',"

"Fair enough," the stranger noted, taking another step closer

"Seto," he finally declared

"You can call me Seto,"

 

~+~

 

From that moment on, Atem and Seto grew thick as theives

Given that Atem was unable to leave the cave, Seto had taken to bringing food back for the two of them, as well as whatever things he could find and scavenge such as books or jewlry

And after Atem had told him the less than happy story about his gaze even effecting flowers, Seto returned the next afternoon with a bouquet of _crystal flowers_ , crystal shards that he had somehow managed to form into what looked like flower blossoms

It was, and still is, undeniably the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for him

Unbeknownst to the gorgon, however, Seto was not content to watch his beloved waste away in a dark cave away from civilzation

He couldn't be happy knowing that Atem was missing out on seeing the sunrise, or gazing up at the moon, that he could never witness the beauty of nature or talk to any other soul except for Seto himself

Sure, he enjoyed the seclusion of it just being the two of them, not having to deal with other people- people who judged him and misunderstood him and frustrated him, but it wasn't fair to Atem, and at the absolute least, he should be allowed to make the choice for himself

So when Seto went out on his daily supply runs, he spent a little time working on a secret project of his as well

Unfortunately, however, the project was taking quite a bit of time for him to complete, and during that time, their situation took a drastic change

People in the neighboring kingdom had begun hearing of the "demon" with the snakes for hair, and had begun sending warriors to kill Atem out of fear

And though it was easy for Atem to defend himself, it was still a problem that was too close for Seto's comfort, especially after one night in particular when Atem was nearly killed in his sleep

After alot of work and debate, Seto had finally managed to convince Atem to return to his kingdom- blindfolded, allowing Seto to act as his eyes

It wasn't that Atem didn't trust Seto- he trusted the gargoyle with his _life_ \- but rather that he didn't trust himself, a blindfold was such a flimsy security device, and Atem had very little faith in it

However, that was where Seto's project came in handy

He had been working with an alchemist to develop a very particular solution to Atem's problem, and after several more months of work, they had finally completed it

And on the six-month anniversary of when the two met, Seto presented Atem with the results of his project: A pair of glasses that were specially designed to contain Atem's curse without impairing his vision

Atem had been more than a little hesitant to try them out, terrified of what would happen if they didn't work, but eventually, much as he had before, Seto convinced him

And much to their mutual releif, the glasses were a success

Atem couldn't have been happier that he was essentially allowed back the majority of his normal life, though, Seto was still the only person he could ever gaze at without the glasses on, and that was undeniably special to him

There was just something about being able to be himself, all of himself, his natural self, that made him feel at peace

As much as he loved the glasses for what they could give him, he loved being able to look at Seto without them even more

"Now can your next project be getting rid of the snakes?" he asked teasingly one night, leaning down to give his partner a kiss

"We'll see," Seto promised with a huff, hugging his partner closer and watching as the king rested his head against the gargoyle's chest, closing his eyes to drift into a peacefull sleep

It would certainly be _a_ project, but Seto's next project?

Finding the perfect stone to make for Atem's wedding ring


End file.
